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Norman Stiles
at the 2001 TCA Awards.]] "]] Norman Stiles (b. December 4, 1942) is a writer who worked on Sesame Street and its related products for over twenty years; his concepts include the Muppet characters Count von Count and Forgetful Jones. Stiles initially studied zoology and chemistry at Hunter College, and became a social worker for the New York City Welfare Department. During that period, he began writing comedy material for such performers as Ron Carey (later a regular on Barney Miller) and Marty Brill, and wrote for Merv Griffin. Season 4 Press Kit. 1971 Stiles joined the Children's Television Workshop in 1971, and became the head writer on Sesame Street beginning with Season 4. In later years, his work would often touch upon sensitive topics, such as the death of Mr. Hooper in Episode 1839, or the effects of divorce on children in the unaired "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce." In 1990, as part of the Season 22 curriculum mandate to examine race relations, Stiles wrote a skit in which a blue monster named Britta refuses to let Elmo play wubbaball because of his different fur color, only to find herself excluded.Johnson, Peter. "Taking Race Relations to the Street." USA Today. November 12, 1990 Stiles has also written for appearances by the Muppets, such as an Ad Council nutrition spot with Cookie Monster, and authored a variety of Sesame Street books (including The Perils of Penelope), wrote lyrics for such songs as "Put Down the Duckie," and helped script Jim Henson's pilot special The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. Stiles discussed his philosophy of writing in 1988: Outside of the Muppets and Sesame Street, Stiles has written for America 2-Night (starring Martin Mull and Fred Willard) and Mel Brooks' 1975 sitcom spoof of Robin Hood When Things Were Rotten. In 1996, Stiles co-founded Sirius Thinking Ltd, an independent children's television production company, with fellow Sesame alumni Michael K. Frith and Christopher Cerf. At Sirius Thinking, Stiles wrote and produced the PBS children's show Between the Lions which premiered in 2000. The show has won six Daytime Emmy Awards, including a 2004 Emmy for best writing. In April 2014, Stiles launched a crowdfunding campaign for an online video series Baby & Toddler Parenthood News Network with his wife Ellen Dillon and child development expert Amy Hatkoff. Television writing credits *''Sesame Street'' (1971 - 1995) *''The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence'' *''Out to Lunch'' *''The Jean Marsh Cartoon Special'' *''The Sesame Street Special'' *''Free to Be... a Family'' Book credits *The Sesame Street Library volumes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 *The Sesame Street Treasury volumes 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 *The Sesame Street Storybook *The Sesame Street 1, 2, 3 Storybook *The Sesame Street ABC Storybook *The Perils of Penelope *I'll Miss You, Mr. Hooper *The Amazing Mumford and His Amazing Subtracting Trick *The Ernie & Bert Book *Grover's Little Red Riding Hood *Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum *Around the Corner on Sesame Street *The Count's Number Parade Songwriting credits *Above it All *Big Bird's Going to Camp *Counting Robins *Dance Myself to Sleep *Do De Rubber Duck *Don't Sing This Song *Do-Op Hop *Elmo's Jive Five *Google Bugle *Handful of Crumbs *Hey Food *I Am Chicken *Me Gotta Be Blue *Monster in the Mirror *Put Down the Duckie *Swamp Mushy Muddy *Telephone Rock *You're Alive Miscellaneous writing credits *''Big Bird Discovers the Orchestra, album *Silly Dancing, ''Sesame Street Live stage show *''Sleeping Birdie'', stage show External links * Sirius Thinking page on Stiles (archived) * Old Jews Telling Jokes * ToughPigs.com interview: "We're All Norman's Kids" * Graphic Policy interview: Muppets Gone Missing: Norman Stiles Sources Category:Writers Category:Authors Category:Composers